1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holding structure of a glass run for an automobile, which is adapted to be attached to a lower channel mounted below a belt line of an automobile door for guiding a door glass as it is raised and lowered.
2. Description of Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a glass run 10 is attached to an inner periphery of a door frame 12 of an automobile door 14 for guiding a door glass 16 as it is raised and lowered. An entire part of the conventional glass run 10 is shown in FIG. 2, a cross-sectional view of the conventional glass run 10 attached on a rear side of the door frame 12 is shown in FIG. 3, and a cross-sectional view of another conventional glass run 20 attached between a door glass 16 and an auxiliary glass on a rear side thereof is shown in FIG. 4.
As shown in FIG. 3, the conventional glass run 10 has been attached within a channel 22 of the door frame 12 to guide the door glass 16 as it is raised and lowered, and provide a seal between the door glass 16 and the door frame 12. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the conventional glass run 10 includes an upper side portion 24 for attachment to an upper side of the door frame 12, a front vertical side portion 26 and a rear vertical side portion 28, which are formed into straight portions 30 by extrusion, and they are connected to each other via corner portions 32 formed by molding to conform to corner parts 34 of the door frame 12.
And, a glass run rear lower portion 36 held with the lower channel is provided below a belt line 38 of the automobile door 14. When the door glass 16 is lowered within the automobile door 14, the glass run rear lower part 36 guides the door glass 16 as it is raised and lowered. The glass run rear lower portion 36 is connected to the rear vertical side portion 28 via a rear vertical connection portion formed by molding.
On the other hand, a seal between the automobile door 14 and an automobile body is provided with a door weather strip (not shown) attached to a door panel and an outer periphery of the door frame 12, and/or an opening trim weather strip (not shown) attached to a flange provided in a door opening portion of the automobile body.
The rear vertical side portion 28 of the glass run 10, which is attached above the belt line 38 of the automobile door 14, includes an outer side wall 40, an inner side wall 42 and a bottom wall 44, and has a generally U-shaped cross section, as shown in FIG. 3. A first outer seal lip 46 is provided to extend from a tip end of the outer side wall 40 toward an interior of a main body of the glass run 10, which has a generally U-shaped cross section. And a second outer seal lip 48 is provided to extend from the tip end of the outer side wall 40 in an extension direction of the outer side wall 40 so as to cover an end edge of the door glass 16.
A first inner seal lip 50 and a second inner seal lip 52 are provided in the inner side wall 42 so as to extend from the vicinity of a tip end of the inner side wall 42 toward the interior of the main body of the glass run 10, which has a generally U-shaped cross section.
The outer side wall 40, the inner side wall 42 and the bottom wall 44 of the main body of the glass run 10 are inserted into the channel 22 provided in the door frame 12, and at least one part of an exterior surface of each of the outer side wall 40, the inner side wall 42 and the bottom wall 44 is pressed against interior surfaces of the channel 22 to hold the glass run 10.
In order to engage the glass run 10 with the channel 22, and hold the glass run 10 within the channel 22 upon attaching of the glass run 10 within the channel 22, an inner holding lip 54 and an outer holding lip 56 are respectively provided in the inner side wall 42 and the outer side wall 40 of the rear vertical side portion 28 of the glass run 10.
A glass slider 58 is attached to an interior surface of an end edge of the door glass 16 to slide within an interior space of the main body of the glass run 10, and both surfaces of the end edge of the door glass 16 are sealed with the first outer seal lip 46, the second outer seal lip 48 and the first inner seal lip 50 (see Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2006-56472, for example).
When the glass slider 58 of the door glass 16 slides within the interior space of the glass run 10 below the belt line 38 of the automobile door 14, the inner side wall 42, the second inner seal lip 52 and the inner holding lip 54, each being composed of a hard material, exhibit an improved holding force, but the first outer seal lip 46 and the first inner seal lip 50, each being composed of a soft material, exhibit a weak holding force against the glass slider 58. The glass run 10 is inserted into and held with the channel 22 of the door frame 12, which has a U-shaped cross section, so that when the glass run 10 is held with a lower channel 60 below the belt line 38 of the automobile door 14, the holding force against the glass run 10 is weak.
And, in another conventional holding structure shown in FIG. 4, a channel 64 provided above the belt line 38 of the automobile door 14, includes a first wall 66, a second wall 68, a third wall 70 and a fourth wall 72, and has a rectangular cross section. And an opening part 74 is defined between the first wall 66 and the fourth wall 72. A glass run 20 including a first side wall 76, a second side wall 78, a third side wall 80 and a fourth side wall 82 has been attached within the channel 64 (see Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2012-56536, for example).
In this case, a glass slider 84 having a key-shaped bending cross section has been attached to an interior surface of an end edge of the door glass 16 to slide within an interior space of a main body of the glass run 20, which has a generally U-shaped cross section, and the door glass 16 has been sealed with outer seal lips 86 and 88 on surfaces on opposite sides of the glass slider 84.
However, in the channel 64 of this case, the opening part 74 is defined between the first wall 66 and the fourth wall 72 so that when the glass run 20 is attached, the opening part 74 is provided in only one part of one side of the channel 64 so as to become narrow, whereby it has been difficult to insert the glass run 20 from the narrow opening part 74. Under such circumstance, the glass run 20 has been assembled by inserting the same from an end of the channel 64 in a longitudinal direction thereof.
A lower channel below the belt line 38 of the automobile door 14 may be bent slightly to conform to the configuration of the automobile door 14. In this case, during inserting of the glass run 20 into the lower channel, an insertion resistance increases so that the glass run 20 may deform to lower insertion workability.